


For Want Of Broken Mountains

by TomatoBash



Category: Naruto
Genre: Abandonment Issues, Abuse, Alcohol Abuse, Codependency, Crying, Depression, Family of Choice, Hurt/Comfort, I did my best, I did my best on making assholes guys, Obsessive Behavior, Pain, Psychological Manipulation, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Loathing, Stockholm Syndrome, Violence, cause I'm a sucker for that, enslavement, ill add more later, platonic possessiveness, team 7 feels i guess.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-08-07 14:24:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16410152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TomatoBash/pseuds/TomatoBash
Summary: Where not everyone is forgiving, the universe is just a little bit different, and team 7 displays a varying amount of unhealthy codependency-ness. (or at least that’s what everyone thinks)





	1. Here we go again

**Author's Note:**

> uh, I did my best? I really want to believe it's super awesome, but more likely than not it isn't. So like, sorry, but not sorry too cause i low-key still think it's pretty good even though is suspect it's pretty shit. 
> 
> sorry if that's confusing. enjoy.
> 
> (ps. some parts might slightly change later cause right now im really fucking tired of editing)

 

Someone once told her that sometimes the biggest fear in the world wasn’t not knowing what was going to happen, it was knowing.

In the cold prison, damp and wet, squeezed between cells that echoed with misery and contempt, she knew only one fact and that was that Sakura Haruno was the only thing that stood between Kakashi and death. It should have been a simple mission, it wasn't even supposed to be fun, just a boring c-rank task that would have been over in a week's time. Instead the stupid old man had tricked them and their crazy opponents - fast and way too skilled - nicked her sensei half-way through, sending him careening into a fever induced sleep, and left them at the mercy of a greedy man by the name of Gatou. If they ever got out of here, she promised herself, he would be her first kill as a shinobi.

For three long weeks she toiled against defeat and terror, marking the time by watching other prisoners, ninja or non-ninja, be wheeled down the hall screaming. Eight hours apart on the dot (if her steady counting on the first day was to be believed) three times a day, and all the while her apathy towards the poor souls was growing. Maybe it was because she knew that this time it wasn't her or maybe it was because she'd seen it seventy-eight times. Either way, it was her daily dose of reality thrice a day instead of warm food, and for every time it happened she marked down another day in which Konoha failed to rescue them. Konoha was supposed to be the best village in all of the five countries and apparently Gatou, some small-time mobster, had stolen the son of the Hokage as well as its Jinchuriki, the second heir to the Uchiha Clan, and her famous sensei, the Copy Nin. The sheer amount of time it was taking them to save them was ridiculous. It was _insane._

Gatou was a stupid man, evident enough by the way he went about placing his so-called prized slaves, so it shouldn't be taking  _ this _ long. Naruto alone should warrant his own special prison, but instead, they wrapped him up in the fanciest seals she'd ever seen and threw him in with her. And Sasuke, a practical royalty, should have been laid in some cot alone and ready for shipment, but he lay eternally silent by her side, covered in the same muck like the rest of them. Even Kakashi, despite how sick he was, shouldn't be so carelessly handled. He was a fucking war hero, one of the best and most dangerous of her Village. If they wanted to actually sell him then the idea of throwing him in a public prison where five out of six would jump him at the moment of weakness was stupid beyond belief.

She could understand  _ her _ , a nobody through and through who couldn't even offer anything to the table beside whimpering and pointless soothing, being thrown into a common cell, but with the other three?

Sakura sneezed, another dirty water drop leaking from the ceiling, landing on her head and rolling down her face.

Or maybe that was the point, maybe he was just that confident in his confinement techniques. And maybe he had that right. They'd been here for three weeks already and they hadn't got out yet, perhaps he was confident and careless because he could be.

Sakura scooted closer to her sensei, ignoring the jeers and hisses from the other cells. It angered and scared her how loud they could be. Despite the other 'slaves' being interchanged, the news that Hatake himself was sleeping beside them, fevered and growing weaker every day, never seemed to leave.

Her hand drifted down to his chest, the barely dry shirt moving up and down with his breathing, stuttering with each inhale. She knew that was a bad thing, it didn't take a genius to figure _that_ out, but other than checking his temperature and watching his shallow breathing, she couldn't do anything else for it. They tried feeding him with what little they had, but that stopped as soon as they realized it would never stop coming back up.

She reached over him and started her routine, her stupid, self-encouraging, _pointless_ routine. It felt nice doing it, it made her feel like she did something, but it was stupid all the same. Checking his pulse she listened to his quickened heartbeat, not knowing what it meant, and then moved onto the others who she didn't know was in worse shape or not.

Drifting over to Sasuke, knees calloused over her constant shuffling, she hesitantly approached. The chains kept her feet to the wall, her hands and neck only movable because of the ring they looped into. She bent over Sasuke, blindly feeling over him, noting that today his legs were still broken, but the swelling had gone down, if only slightly. That escape attempt was actually what had gotten her chained to the wall even tighter, not that she blamed him.

Gliding her hands over his tattered clothing, she freely let her hands caress every limb. She didn't know what she was looking for, maybe some injuries their dearest jailers might have inflicted upon him while she slept. It was unlikely because she would have woken up the moment their rusted door opened, but genjutsu wasn't something their enemies didn't mind using.

It was like how their whole cell level was in pitch black and how the torches of their jailers, the ones they carried when they dragged some poor soul out, burned so brightly her eyes shut closed and even after in the dark, she could see white flashes under her eyelids. If Kakashi-sensei was awake, maybe he'd have something to say about that. 

Focusing back on her task, she felt the tiny wash of relief when there were no further injuries and then her hands cautiously made their way to his face. Sasuke had been dragged off the most out of all of them, twice in total, and after the last one he had stopped speaking. Mostly. He always found the energy to hiss whenever her check up led to his face.  

Gatou had taken his eyes and sealed it in some far away jar for 'safekeeping.' When he had come back limp and quiet, she had panicked and questioned him, trying to feel him up for any sign that he'd been mauled again. The harsh words bounced cleanly off her because there had never been a time when his voice sounded so small and hoarse. The desperate check up ended when he pulled her hand harshly to his face and made her feel the emptiness in his skull. When he told her to leave him alone and she did. 

Now, for the fifteenth time since that day, she tried to look at his bandages again. The idea of him being infected and in pain outweighed the piercing words he slung at her. 

"Stop it," he grunted hoarsely, his hands grabbing hers with a vice grip. The shackles blocked out her wrists, leaving her fingers to crush under it his hold.

"I-I need to check," she whispered, leaning by him and ignoring the pain in her hands. His grip was shaking, but that was either because of his strength or lack therefore of.

"F-for what?" She guessed that he had turned his head to her, lifting it up to hiss, "what could  _ you _  d-do?"

She answered honestly like she always did. "Nothing." That's right, she could do nothing because that's all she was. Someone who just stood on the sidelines, waiting for the heroes to swoop in and save the day. The damsel in distress. 

"Then stop." 

"No." Because this was what kept her sane - it made her feel good and better and that made her stronger. Strong enough to hold onto the belief that someone was still coming for them.

"You're stupid, u-useless, and doing  _ nothing _ . Just stop." In the dark despite not being able to see a thing, she bent down and found his forehead with her own. If she couldn't use her hands, then she'd use what she could to check. There wouldn't be much to tell with just her cheek and forehead, but she'd know; she'd know if he was hurt more, if his eye sockets were crawling with maggots and flies, if they were still bleeding. She just needed to know. 

It would be one more thing that she'd learn about, one more thing she'd make herself better at, one more reason to be stronger. 

"No," Sakura whispered again, "I know, but I won't."

Her forehead traveled down, her eyes shut tightly to feel the rough bandages, abated slightly that they were still tight around his head. The short locks of her hair didn't graze upon his face, giving her some image of what was left of her pink head. The man who had cut it hadn't kept her awake long enough to see it for herself, though she didn't really care anymore about it.

"This is stupid," she felt him say it and she didn't mention the trembling of his chin. "P-pointless."

"I know," rising up, she left him satisfied by her small check up. Still, though, his hands gripped hers.

"Stop t-this," he asked, "stop touching me." She shook her head, hard enough for some strands to fall loose. "I hate y-you. Use - useless. Don't ever t-touch me again."

"No," she repeated firmly.

" _Stop saying that,_ " it came out in a harsh tone, the strongest it had been in a while, and she found herself smiling, even bitterly. If it took his hatred to make him stronger, she didn't mind being the focus of it. "W-why do you even t-try?"

"Because," her hands tugged slightly, his grip slowly growing weaker, "I want to know if your hurting."

For a breath, there was nothing. The jeers from outside their cage, the ragged breathing of her sensei, and the eternal obedient silence of Naruto, but between the two of them there was nothing. Just the presence. 

Then Sasuke managed a small familiar scoff, sounding more like himself and making her heart soar. "And what w-would you do if I was?"

She answered honestly because they promised they always would. "Nothing."

His head, which had risen probably an inch off the floor in their talk, settled back down with a crunch. "I hate you." 

Sakura nodded, the sentence shrugged off because she knew it made him feel better and really, that was all that mattered. She left him to move onto the last part of her routine. The food they were given was moldy and wet, disgusting on the first day but by now, heaven sent. It was split among them, most of the water going to Kakashi-sensei, and despite her protests Naruto settled on being given the less, with the two of them getting the bigger half. She didn't question how he knew he could forgo food for a week without dying.

"Naruto?" Sakura tried to look at him, guessing where he was at and not bothering to move any closer to touch him as she had with the others. Instead, she turned back, grabbing their food pile and carefully pulling out the crumbling bread. 

"Yes?" He answered eagerly, almost sounding as if nothing was wrong. If it wasn't for the thin desperation in his voice, she wouldn't have been able to guess he was trapped in the corner, blind, paralyzed, and surrounded by an invisible electric field. For a boy who was so touchy, hugging or interacting with anything that moved, it was his own sort of torture.

And like everyone else, he was trying to cope with it.

Naruto was eager to do about anything, as much as someone like him could do, and do it without a single fault. He would speak to Sasuke for as long as she told him to, trying to prompt the other into speaking back, he would stay silent even when men would come in and stomp on her or Kakashi-sensei, and if it was possible, he'd probably jump off a cliff too if she commanded it.

At first, it was annoying, him waiting on her hand and foot verbally, but after hours of sitting by him and listening to the sporadic moments of which he would just lose it, asking to be told to do something, anything, to help or just  _ something,  _ it became heart-wrenching. So, she'd established the rules to help keep him sane and now she was watching it become unhealthy. He took her commandments to heart, didn't even skip a beat when she asked because  _ she  _ forgot, and they were  _ never _ broken. Not even when that guard had come in and broke her arm, laughing all the while. (he’d healed it right back up, but she didn’t think she’d ever get the cracking of bones out of her nightmares)

Sakura understood Naruto's state of mind; getting kidnapped, being treated like dirt, being turned into a slave. It was all stressful, degrading, and they were only twelve, so it was  _ natural _ to stoop to low levels just to cope. It was  _ okay  _ for him to revert into something like an obedient, happy, soldier. Naruto, who was so used to dropping everything to help, was forced to sit back everyday as their jailers beat them, as they took Sasuke away for the first and second time, as her fingers were broken and mended and broken. He was frustrated, taking control in the only way he could, which was listening to her every ask, every need.

But that didn’t stop her from hating it.

"Where are you?"

"Here," he directed softly, her hand honing in on his voice, "just a little more."

It wouldn't hurt her so much if she knew some people just  _ didn't _ get over things, they just didn't forget and knowing that maybe after this (because there would be an after) her rules would become part of him and that they would always stay no matter how far he buried them, killed a small hopeful part of her. 

Sakura took a stick, her hands folding the little bread into the cleanest cloth they had and tied it loosely on it. She made her way back to Naruto, steadily leaning over Sasuke and blindly holding out the food. The system they developed was ugly; a stick from god-knows-where, heading towards his mouth, carrying a small piece of food wrapped in a cloth for Naruto to try an un-tie with his teeth. It was dirty and disgusting and probably really unhygienic, but it was the only way to get food to him.

The tied little sack almost made it to his mouth before the sound of the level door opening made her stumble back and drop it. A blinding light filled the cell, as well as multiple groans and shouting, and she scrambled back to her place beside Kakashi-sensei, hurriedly crowding around him. Sakura dragged his large body closer to the wall so she could cover him easier. She could take a hit, hell even a beating, but she wouldn't, not even for a second, let them get to her sensei without a fight.

The steps of the jailers echoed loudly and she counted each step, adrenaline pumping. Sasuke moved too, just like he always did when they came in and pushed himself into the wall.

_ \- fifteen, fourteen, thirteen - _

Twenty-seven-steps to their room and it was already down to the teens -

_ \- twelve, eleven, ten - _

\- did they normally come so far in?

_ \- nine, eight, seven - _

She clutched the torso of their unconscious sensei, who would kick all of their asses if he was awake. They wouldn't even dare hurt him, kicking him like the fucking bastards they were.

_ -five, four, three, two- _

Sakura would protect him this time around, if it was the last thing she did, because if she hadn't been so stupid, only screaming the entire time they were kidnapped, and useless they might not even  _ be  _ here. 

\-  _ one. _ The footsteps stopped and so did her heart. Her hands, however small they were, clenched and she tried to flatten herself against his warm body. His fevered breather was louder than ever before. Would this be the last time she would hear him? The last time she would feel his chest move up and down, a rhythm with only a stutter in between?

The door opened and she flinched, tensing and bracing for whatever would come next. A hit, a cut, another dig of a kunai; were they drunk or were they cruel this time? How long would she last? Could she even do it?  _ Were they going to take Sasuke away again? _

"Get in," a man grunted, shuffling and unintelligible shouts erupted. There were scuffling and chains rattling, then he shouted, "I said get in!" 

There was a shout of surprise and the swinging of  _ a _ door. He didn't open  _ their  _ door, he opened the one  _ across _ from it. Sakura bit her lip so hard to keep her from sobbing in relief that it bled.

"You two are lucky, right across from the White Fang's son himself, the Copy Nin," there it was again, the announcement of her sensei. He was feeding news she'd rather let die, was that how people always knew he was there? Did they alway announce how far the war hero of Konoha was from them? Righteous anger filled her, but it was knocked right out when she heard the pat on their cell door.

It swung open without hesitation and her relief dropped.

"Aw, that's cute," he said, stepping into their cell. Sakura gulped, heartbeat throbbing with every step he took. "Covering your teacher like that." 

A hand slid into her short hair and pulled up. She fought to keep it down, to cover more of her sensei, but he pulled harder, digging his fingers into her skull. 

"Stubborn brat," he grunted. Someone's fingers snapped, and the blinding light of the torch ceased, so much so it surprised her out of the struggled, head now up at the mercy of the holder. "There we go, much better."

She blinked away the white, quickly adjusting to the dimly lit room. Steadily, her breathing got faster, only growing worse when a hand grabbed her face, angling it. The man's face was scarred and bearded and most importantly,  _ fat _ . Gatou didn't even bother to grace them with shinobi guards.

"You know I wanted to be a ninja too when I was younger," he laughed, "too fat though. Now, look at me, working as some jailer for too little pay and dealing with village brats too early in the day. Going to become a kunoichi are you girl?" His face leaned towards hers, his disgusting breath filling her air. 

"F-fuck you," she hissed and the man chuckled deeply.

"Oh I would sweetheart, pretty thing like you," she flinched when his hands went to caress her face. She would smack them away, but she refused to let go of Kakashi-sensei, only clenching harder in case his silent partner behind him tried to drag him out of her grasp.

"Oh the things me and the guys would do; gets me excited just thinking about it." The words felt like slime on her skin and she shivered under them. "Unfortunately," he sighed mournfully, head shaking in disappointment, "the boss said all the Konoha slaves are hands off."

Sakura couldn't help it. Maybe it was because of the growing anger and the shock of his intrusive words or the pain in her head from his digging fingernails, but she did the one thing she forbade Naruto from doing, because responding to their jabs made things longer and longer meant more pain.

"P-piss poor job your doing," she spat back, enjoying how a little spittle clung to his face. He barked a laugh at her hiss, hand wiping the saliva off, and turned his head to his friend, "can you believe this kid?" he said, and then before she saw it, his hand snapped forward and struck her in the face.

Sakura gagged on her yelp, gritting her teeth hard and grimacing only slightly when she felt he blood dribble down. The pain flared across her cheek, and she focused the stinging away by clenching her fists harder onto her Kakashi's clothing.

"Lesson one of the slave life, don't talk back to your masters." His hand waved in front of her face. "And besides, doll, I think you're missing the point." He tugged her up harder, head lolling forward after the hit, "touching someone means something different to a man - see, you'd have learned this later on in your training. You're a kunoichi after all, masters of seduction, they would have taught you how to present your ass nice and pretty."

"Konoha i-isn't some whorehouse," she sneered lamely.

The man put his lip out, shrugging nonchalantly, "well, I can't deny that's not  _ somewhat  _ true, your lot has been getting quite," his free hand flipped out as if brushing something away in the air, "progressive. Damn shame if you ask me." He smirked, "but that's for another day, pretty. Where was I? Oh yes, to us men, touch is different. Man to man? Well, that bastard lucked out, no black and blue badges for him." Her eyes on instinct flashed down to her sensei and the man laughed, "oh no sweetie, your sensei's different. He's a pretty one, could almost pass for a girl that one. And touching from man to girl? Well, there's no  _ pleasurable  _ fun," the word oozed off his tongue with no shame, "but there's still fun. For example, this."

His hand swept under her, pulling her away from Kakashi. She screamed, flailing and holding onto him with all her might, thrashing and biting at the air. 

"Let me go!" 

He grunted, only pulling harder. Her muscles burned at the strength she used to hold on, hands feeling raw against Kakashi-sensei's shirt. 

"Brat," he snapped at her, then, "rookie, get over here." 

The man behind him slipped forward, torch in one hand. His foot kicked back and in a snap, slammed into her stomach. She gagged the choke dragging up a disgusting noise as his foot dug into her stomach. The force of the kick pushed her off in a clean snap and onto the fat man's arms. He threw her to the floor immediately, leaving her to cough out her intestines. 

Out of the corner of her eye, blurry and filled with unshed tears, she made out the fat man's figure as he pulled out a Kunai. No no no no no - she couldn't let that happen. Kakashi-sensei was invaluable to Konoha, he was a jounin, a war hero, and her teacher. She was weak, useless, couldn't even make an attempt at escaping even though she was the only one who could still use chakra. They weren't going to cut into him. She could take it - she  _ would _ take it.

“Now sweetheart, watch as I demonstrate to you why -”

Snapping forward, she grabbed onto the man's ankle, biting furiously into it. The iron bitterly sank into her tongue and the fat man screamed. His leg jerked, but she still didn't let go, digging her teeth further into the skin. 

"Shit!" He howled, finally throwing her off and into the wall. The chains at her feet rattled. 

"She bit me! She fuckin' bit me!" Fat man squealed, hopping on one foot and holding the other in his hand. Her eyes scrunched, then opened, stretching wide trying to keep consciousness with her. The wall had collided with her head, dizzying her world. 

"What did you expect? She's halfway feral and you just tore her away from her sensei," the silent man spoke, mockery and condescension in his tone, "quite the mama bear aren't you?" He looked at her with his blank eyes and she just dazedly glared back. 

"Fuck you," the fat man spat, "shit, I think I'm bleeding." He scowled at the spread on his face red on his hand, the ugly glare landing on her. Then, a cruel and angry smile spread, "angry feral you say?"

He limped toward her, his hands eagerly grabbing clumsily at the chains in the wall, "well, dogs need to be taught."

"Sir," the silent man interjected, his eyebrow raised, "I don't really think Gatou would appreciate that -"

"I don't give a fuck!" Fat man hollered, "she's a slave and she needs to know who she belongs to." His foot stamped on her face, her heart screaming with terror and twisted joy. It was going to hurt, but at least it was her. Her and only her. She could be at least good for this. "Go get the boys, we got a show on tonight."

Her heart pounded in her ears, the beating drumming out her dizziness. She could do this. _ She could do this. _ The chains lifted as they pulled her forward and, for the first time in weeks, out of the cage. 

"C'mon bitch," he yanked her up, the force on her neck bruising. Shaking with the pain in her stomach, she forced her legs up, panting with each move. For a second she glanced at Sasuke and Naruto. They couldn't see her and she couldn't speak. There would be no goodbye. 

"I said move it!" Fat man barked, tugging her forward and her stumbling afterward. He practically dragged her out, chains clinking against the stone. Sakura stumbled, eyes darting left in right. The new prisoners, right across from them, were scrunched into the walls, their eyes shut tight. The torch still blinded them then.

Sakura pursed her lips, the words of the fat guard now echoing in her head. A show,  _ fun _ , what did that mean for her? Was he...was he going to do all of that? She gulped. She could take it. She  _ could.  _

But that didn't mean she wasn't scared out of her mind.  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, first things first - WARNING FOR SOME NON-DESCRIPTIVE NUDITY. well, as non descriptive as i can make it. believe me when i say i was just as uncomfortable writing it. (i'm actually even worried about putting this out. tell me if you hate it and i'll probably take it down. -_- yes i know...im that insecure)
> 
> Other than that? Nothing. Sorry if it's a bit short. Exams just finished and i want to post this while im in a good mood. Before my official grades get back and all. Uh, now without further ado, read!

Naruto cried. They had finally taken Sakura. First Sasuke and now her; god what the hell was he doing? He was a jinchuriki, the son of the Hokage, he should be doing more than just fucking sitting. Kicking their asses, beating them, killing them, that's what he should be doing, what a real shinobi would do. What they _all_  should be doing. Instead, he was here, in the corner with Uchiha who refused to even utter a peep. Why had she done that? She wasn't supposed to do that. She had  _promised_  she wouldn't do that.

_Rule five, when they come for us, don't speak._

Sakura spoke and now she was gone and he had stayed silent the whole way. He swore to her he would listen, but it wasn't fair. It just wasn't  _fair_. Not for the first time he tugged at his restraints, gritting through his silent tears angrily. They were as tight as the day they'd been put on and he resented them all the more for it. They were all complicated, interwoven expertly, restraining every part of him he longed to reach.

Naruto almost broke with the need to run after Sakura. She tried so hard to protect Kakashi, he knew she did, and all he could do was sit up tied in the corner. Where was his Village? Where was his dad? They should have been here by now, they should be saved. Sasuke's eyes wouldn't have been taken, Sakura wouldn't have been taken, and Kakashi would  _fucking be awake_.

This just proved how weak and fucking incompetent he was. Just because he was the son of a Hokage didn't mean shit, it didn't mean anything if he couldn't protect his teammates, couldn't find away from his restraints. Shikamaru would have been out days ago, Sasuke almost did and they would have made it too if he had just  _listened._  If he hadn't argued back and had just fucking held onto Kakashi-sensei like he was told to. If he hadn't complained and whined and  _wasn't just a fucking stupid idiot_ they would be home. Without the hitai-ate, without his title, he was just a clueless kid. He wasn't skilled at fighting, he wasn't skilled with ninjutsu, he didn't have special moves; he couldn't even protect Sakura with his words. His father could have, Kakashi could have, and if Sasuke wasn't sinking in his own self-pity, he probably could have too.

The only thing he did right was following the rules.

 _'Kyuubi please,'_  he moaned inwardly,  _'please answer me...'_

The Kyuubi had spoken to him, right as he was being wrapped up, demanding what was going on. He was bigger, angrier than he imagined from all the stories from his mom, and now that he thought about it, he looked pretty scared too. Or worried at least. The prison of the Kyuubi was disgusting, the beast wading through murky water and the bars high and old. But right about now, he would give anything to see it.

"Damn it," the idea that Sakura was off, being tortured or worse, made his stomach swirl and his anger toward his mute friend grow. Even now, when their own teammate who they were supposed to protect was hauled off, he just sat there. He didn't even try. At least when  _he_ had been dragged off, they screamed after him. Sakura didn't even get that.

"You bastard," he sobbed, "sit damn it - sit the  _fuck_ up."

Silence. Well  _of fucking course._ "W-what's the matter with you?" He tried not sneer, he promised Sakura he would be nice.

"T-they took her away y-you coward," if he could just move - even an inch, "she would have fought for you, s-she wouldn't have - have," the tears grew thicker and he sniffed. If only he was stronger, if only he had listened during their first escape, they wouldn't be paying the price. They would be at home, happy, Sasuke still an ass, Sakura still smiling, and Kakashi fucking awake. Shit.

This was  _all_ his fault.

He shouldn't have pushed for this mission. What was he even thinking? He couldn't even perform a henge properly, let alone fight anyone off. Kakashi-sensei was being to nice to them, he wanted them to grow and saw them as his own and they didn't care a single  _crap_  about him. If Kakashi died before he could say sorry he was going to lose it. Again, Naruto struggled pointlessly, almost screaming in frustration.

They had bound his hands together, as well as his legs, then wrapped him up almost completely, save for his elbows and knees. To hell with what he knew they had done to make him blind. Then they slapped some sort of paralyzing tag on him and propped him in the corner of his prison, finishing it all off with some sort of invisible barrier that kept anyone from even  _breathing_  on him.

What he would  _do_  when he got out, making him sit by uselessly while they dragged off his friends. If they put a hand on her, one slimy disgusting limb on her, he would _tear_ them apart. He  _swore_  it. They'd die in pain and he wouldn't care because screw  _mercy,_ damn it!

"Say something," he snapped again, anger bubbling over and just for a second his rules slipping from mind, "speak you self-wallowing, pathetic, fucking  _coward!_ "

All there was was silence and this time he actually did scream; he yelled, he called out for Sakura, he struggled, he ignored the  _jeers_  and the people across from them - and then, after who knows long, he went quiet, calming down in pants and dry tears because his body refused to generate water.

He breathed raggedly, anger still simmering.

_Rule three, protect the others if I'm gone._

The rules he'd begged her to make were pointless, he couldn't do half the stuff she asked, but they were there. They played on repeat because now, drumming out his agony because without Sakura to talk to, and Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke incapable of speaking back, he had no one. There was silence among them and god he wished, just even for a second, for someone to say  _something_. He wanted to help them, even if it was just through his words, he'd even take to being verbally punched by Sasuke because that would mean the smarmy bastard was finally  _talking._

What would his dad do? What would uncle Jiraiya do? What were  _they_  even doing now? They were his family, right?  _Right?_  So where were they? He would give anything, even if it meant he could never move again, for  _someone_ to save them. It's already three  _weeks,_ not three hours or three days, three  _weeks,_ and still _no one?_ Would they all be here for three months too? Was anyone even...

...were they even looking?

That really made his eyes wet and his heart hitch, because sure he was the Hokage son, but he was a jinchuriki. The council  _hated_ him, the village hated him, so why would they agree to send out some of their own for a - a  _demon?_

And Sasuke too, did they think that just because they had Itachi, they didn't need the second son? Was he that expendable? All because Sasuke was thirteen and hadn't even awakened his Sharingan? Was his Clan that heartless as to just abandon him because of it? And now his eyes were gone, if they found out, then they would surly cast him out. Son of the Head or not.

He didn't even want to  _think_ about Sakura and Kakashi if the Villiage wasn't even willing to save  _them (son of the Hokage and second clan heir)_. Sakura was a nobody in those  _pieces of shit's_ eyes. She was brave and loyal and they didn't care all because she had no last name. No 'talent.' Is that all they valued? No. No, it was  _worse_  because they apparently didn't care about Kakashi either, and he had help ended the Third Shinobi war. And all because he was some sort of greedy, glory seeking, shinobi? Because some Uchiha 'said' he had tricked him to get an eye? Because of his willingness to cut people down, his own fellow nin, just to move up the ranks, even though it wasn't  _fucking_ true.

They were wrong. They were all  _wrong_. Kakashi had looked them in his eyes and told him to protect his team above all else, above the  _mission,_ above pride and glory. It some absolute  _bullshit,_ Naruto vehemently swore, that his Sensei was heartless.

 _'None of them cared,'_  his lip trembled,  _'even if I became the best shinobi in fucking history they still wouldn't care. They would still hate and ignore me no matter what I did.'_

He could probably save Konoha from some villain and still be sneered at. That's what they were trying to say. That had to be. Those _fucking_  pompous, arrogant,  _assholes_ , leaving him and his team to  _rot_  all because of their stupid narrow minded wa-

The cell door clicked, and he jolted. When had the level door open? He was supposed to keep watch! Damn it, getting so lost in his stupid thoughts, he had one job, just one and he couldn't even do that.

"Here he is," someone said, "Hatake himself. Didn't think we'd ever get the honor, with how much Kuran keeps watch. Thank the gods he's a disgusting pig."

Another person laughed, "I don't think that girl back there would agree with that."

"I don't think _any_ girl would agree."

There was a chorus of laughter, and he realized horrifyingly that they were here for Kakashi-sensei. Sakura wasn't here, she couldn't save him from them, and they would laugh and carve into Kakashi-sensei like some dog. Anger bubbled at the way they spoke about Sakura, but he couldn't think about that now.  _(rule three: protect the others if I'm gone)_  They would kill his sensei. He was sure of it and everything down to his core demanded he do  _something_. The jailers weren't in the room yet, but they would be soon and then it would be too late.

"Sasuke!"

Silence.

"Sasuke!" He tried again, then in a pathetically desperate tone, "...please, please you have to protect Kakashi-sensei. I'm sorry, I didn't mean what I said," he meant every word, "t-they can't hurt you, they're not allowed too, please. Sakura isn't here and,"  _and I'm too stupid to help_ "please, just please Sasuke, do  _something_."

Silence again, and this time it was filled with a chorus of cheers.

"Mitsuki! Over here, how long does it to get some fucking keys?"

They were coming, they were coming and they were going to beat Kakashi-sensei and kill him because that would just flow  _perfectly_  along with everything else. Taking Sasuke eyes, torturing Saukra, killing Kakashi-sensei,  _fuck_ , all they had to do was paralyze him  _forever_  to keep up with their sadistic pattern.

"You think your so pitiful, don't you?" he spat, anger and panic taking over, _"Oh I lost my eyes, the pride of my Clan,'_  well _fuck. you_. S-so they broke your legs and made you b-blind - at least you can still fucking move!" A single tear slipped through because he was almost sure Sasuke wasn't even listening. "D-do you think you're u-useless? Huh? I'm the  _only_  one who can say that! Me! I - I'm forced to sit here every day," the chattering of their enemies grew louder, "forced to l-listen as they hurt you, f-forced to sit b-back and do n-nothing. I c-can't move a single limb, I can't even fuckin _twitch,_  b-breathing feels like I'm chugging s-sludge and I-I-I-," he was rambling now, breathing becoming fast and labored. There was a resounding click of the door and he threw away his broken sentence for one last beg. "…bastard, do _something. Please._ "

And then they came in.

"Ah, you know this asshole killed my student?" People filled the room, and it made him tremble that he couldn't tell how much. Was this really how it was going to go? His sensei was going to die under the feet of these scum?

He opened his mouth, trying to think of something, anything, to say, but his mind fought between protecting Kakashi-sensei and keeping silent like he was supposed too. _(rule five: when they come for us, don't speak)_

"Killed my squad," some bastard spat, "fuckin monster. Deserves every single…" He trailed off suddenly, squeaking with surprise. "Hey, hey, what the fuck is this brat doing?"

Naruto bit his lip in hope and surprise and  _fucking thank the gods._

"Son of a bitch," there was a small shuffle, "what's wrong now?"

An angry growl filled the small room, "kid's draped over Hatake like a blanket."

"Well take him off then!"

"…Gatou said we can't lay a hand on him," it was a small voice and every part of Naruto filled with the closest thing to happiness. It warmed him, made him feel as if the sun was exploding in his chest because he did it. Sasuke was protecting him. Sasuke listened. "He was pretty serious."

"Fuck this," a deep voice muttered, grunts echoing as the stranger muscled his way over, "let go kid or I'm going to stomp on you too."

"Jato, I just said -"

"And I don't give a shit!" He hollered, "this bastard killed my wife! Screw 'prized slave.' Whoever's getting the Uchiha brat won't give a fuck if he's broken or not - all they ever care about them are their fuckin eyes."

"But -"

"Didn't he slaughter your village?" The angry man barked, "Isn't he the reason we lost the Third Shinobi War in the first place? He deserves this, and I'm not letting a blind Uchiha stand in my way of justice!"

There were murmurings of agreement and disagreement, and he bit his lip furiously. Rule three, protect the others? Well, if he was going to do that, screw rule five and all the others. They weren't going to help him finally do something.

Opening his stubborn mouth, he unleashed the bumbling fury that had been festering in his stomach the moment they got here. Verbal or not, he was going to  _cut_ into them and he was going to do it mercilessly.

* * *

The Fat man threw Sakura to the ground, stepping over her to a stone platform and tugging on her chains hard, not waiting till she stood up. Then he knocked her to her knees and tied her hands to a hook. There was a cranking, a clatter of wheels, and she was being lifted up. Her wrists burst in pain as the chains dug into her skin.

It stretched her, opened her up in a vulnerable way and her toes barely allowed to scrape the floor. She bit back a low groan. It felt horrible. Open, defenseless, alone - and a crowd in front of her to watch. Tears pricked her eyes.

There were caged people - adults mostly, and there were the guards and their lunch tables and their horrible smirking and cruel faces.

Sakura's hands shook, the chains jingling in tune. She could take this. She could do it. Breathing in and out, trying to control it, she shut her eyes tightly. A kunoichi should always take in their surroundings, no matter what the situation, but right now - right now she just  _couldn't_. Violated by the crowd, she tried not remember the Fat Mans words bouncing loudly her mind.

Sakura flinched hard, the feeling of a hand landing on her shoulder.

"Stay still if you don't want me to cut you," it was the voice of the silent man from earlier. "You'll need every drop of blood."

A finger pulled out her collar and in a flash of a heartbeat, the back of her dress was sliced open. The ripping sound lasted all the way down to her waist, exposing her back to the chill of the large room.

No. No no no no  _no no_ _ **no no**_ -  _!_

"Whoo, go boss!" Someone shouted and her racing heartbeat failed to drown out the other cheers. The dirty and messy dress hung open. People enjoyed this? Sick, twisted, perverted,  _jackasses_. Oh gods, there was a crowd - were they going to - was she -

Her panting grew louder in her ears and tears quickly pooled. Sakura was a shinobi of the Konoha, she was doing this to protect her sensei and her team. She could do this.  _She could_. The dress had only been cut down to her waist, her sore back the only thing exposed.

Sakura bit her lip and tried to touch the ground. Maybe she could relieve herself of just this one pain before -

There was a cracking sound, splitting through the air, and she instinctively flinched. That she was expecting. Not at all. It was a whip. They were going to whipher. Slaves, punishment - of course. Shodaime, they were going to  _whip_ her.

It was going to hurt, it was going to hurt so, so much…but it wasn't  _that_. His words had been empty, meaningless fodder. The only thing the crowd before her was going to see was the pain on her face. A small part of her heaved and retched with relief and Sakura felt a tear slip through.

"Don't cry," the silent man commanded, "not unless you want this to be longer."

In a weird way, that was kind of nice. Heaving silently, she tensed but still not able to kill the shaking. It didn't matter. The strange man walked away, knife in hand, and joined the audience before her. Her head raised when she hear the clapping of heavy footsteps. They carried on right up until a few feet behind her, the air on her back disturbed.

"And I present to you," Fat Man boomed, "Hatake Kakashi very own genin." The crowd erupted in a loud hateful cheer and a snarl fought its way to her throat.

_How dare they -_

The snap of a whip echoed and the first lash hit her bareback. It was nothing like what she was expecting. Instead of sharp slashes, there were heavy hits, spread about as multiple ropes, several knots tied into it. It felt familiar, more a beating than anything else, but still, it didn't prevent her from yelping at the first hit. Sakura bit into the air as she gripped the shackles and silenced her screams.

Each his fell hard and fast, quickly picking a torturous rhythm, and with each hit she felt her resolve crack. It hurt, it hurt so much, but she couldn't give in. She promised herself she would do this, for Kakashi-sensei who would have been stomped to death. Kakashi-sensei had said it,  _protect them,_ he had told her,  _your team is everything._ He was right and she wouldn't let him down again.

Her toes, clenching, stretched to the ground. The action distracted her from the hits. Whipping was illegal in her home but she knew from travelers that Konoha was a special case. Apparently, other countries thought it was a perfect source of discipline, and in what felt like a lifetime ago, a friendly peddler had showed her his scars, welted and ugly. In her haze of pain, she wondered if she would look like that too.

...no, this wasn't that kind of whip. You didn't get those from a cat o'nine tails.

Slowly, she fell into the beating of her back, closing her eyes and imagining she was still in her cell with the others. It eased the feeling of eyes on her and the chuckles of the sadistic bastards. Soon though it stopped, and she slumped, tension bleeding out. Her panting and blurred eyes smudged her senses and the iron in her mouth stung, but she was alive. She was still fine.

"There, you've been all softened up. Now let's see what Hatake's student is made of."

Her chest burned, the erratic beating of her heart clouding her thoughts as she heard him pick something up behind her. More? There was  _more?_  The crack of the whip, different than from the other, resounded and before she had time to flinch a slice of burning pain erupted in her shoulder. This time she did scream. Oh it tore from her throat and it sounded pathetic, but she screamed. The pain dug into her shoulder, and then another landed and another and another till it picked up the same rhythm as before. Blood trickled down with each hit till her entire back was nothing but a sticky mess.

The stinging of pain continued, and her wails subsided to half-throaty-grunts as he continued, the laughter and her own internal agony drowning out the humiliation. She said she could do this. For Kakashi-sensei sent into a sleep cause she sat there, for paralyzed frustrated Naruto, and the quiet and angry Sasuke, for the only people in the world left that she could call her own. They had been chained together and hell, they were going to suffer together too. They had their own burdens and this was hers. She was going to protect them, even if she suffered and was broken. She was going to be of use, she was going to _protect_  them. Kakashi-sensei said she could and she wouldn't fail him.

Then, in the middle of it all she heard snickers and hisses and for some reason, she had the strength to open her eyes. The crowd was staring at her intensely, even the ones in their cages shot her looks.

Ah.

The sharp, traditional, cruel, whip had cut into the shoulder pieces of her dress. Her front was uncovered and exposed and now she couldn't tell what was worse. The endless digging into her back or the absolutely humiliating feeling of eyes drinking in the sight of her naked front.

All of a sudden she was aware of the chill biting into her chest.

Sakura wanted to crawl in a hole and die but ' _protect them'_ chanted like an endless song and she tore furiously into her bottom lip. Blood dribbled down. She raised her head and glared into the crowd; humiliation, shame, fear, vulnerability, and the absolute primal animistic need to protect ran through her and in some twisted sick way, she found that there was still enough strength in her to show none of that. None of that except the pride that she would not give up. Never. She would and could endure. She was going to do this.  _For them._

_(and how exactly, some small part whispered seductively, did standing half-nude in front of a crowd even protect them? Is this sacrifice just as useless as we are?)_

In the blur of her tears, the shrieks of her pain, she thought could see the silent man head tilting. Almost in respect of her daring yet pathetic show of meek bravery.

It didn't matter.

Finally,  _finally_ , it stopped. The whip stopped, the blood on her back dripping down, and she was left panting, back bloody, front exposed, hands white with her grip, and face wet with blood and tears. She was a mess. Mortified. Humiliated.

But alive.

Sakura sat there for minutes, eyes drifting closed while the world around her ticked on, people talking to each other and laughter ringing around. The cold pricked at her skin, wandering eyes as well, but she held on.

Sakura be more angry if she just wasn't so tired.

"Ohoho, underdeveloped, but still..." Fat Man's voice was in front of her. The scream that wanted to burst was held back in a gurgle of spit and blood from her torn lip. If the gods had any mercy left...

"Relax darling," his hand caressed her cheek and her eyes flew wide open. His grin felt worse than any of his strikes. "Not that kind of show tonight." He flicked his wrist, someone pulled a lever, and she fell to the ground. She hadn't even noticed the straining in her arms, too overwhelmed by the pain on her back.

"Alright, time for the main event," the voice of her torturer was grating and loud. He turned to the crowd. There was a dragging noise and suddenly, two hands gripped her back, holding her shoulders down. Her hands were still raised to the ceiling, front still open for the crowd.

Would she ever forget the feeling of watching eyes?

"Hold her down."

Tears blurred her vision again, the blood from her lip the only thing keeping her grounded. She was already  _so_ tired. So subdued. This man was sick and psychotic and she should have torn his ankles clean off when she had the chance.

"Try not to squirm," someone muttered before laughing.

Without holding back, they began to carve into her like she was a leather piece. The knife danced across her back, teasing her wounds, then mercilessly dug into them making each whip mark deeper and bloodier. They held her down as she screamed and arched. A hand held her chin up, palm spread across her throat, and kept her from curling in.

Each moment and every cut lasted longer than the three weeks combined, and her mind became a broken record. She did this for her team. She did this for her team.  _She did this for her team._

Her body spasmed, screaming to get away, but the hands held her down leaving her to sob and yell. It aggrieved and burned more than anything she'd ever felt, and unlike before, there was no rhythm to get lost in. A psycho's mutilation. A mad man's carving. It was agony, but she couldn't give in, even if she didn't know what that meant while she was bent over and stabbed.

And still they watched  _and watched_   _and_   _ **fucking**_   _watched_ _ **.**_

It could be Sasuke instead or Kakashi-sensei in pain and at that thought she clenched hard, teeth grinding. She couldn't -  _never_  - let that happen. A simmer under her skin, beneath the pain and blood, burned with a primal cry at the thought of them ever being subjected to this embarrassment that took her pride and dignity. They were all that was left, all that was hers - these bastards would _not_  have them too.

There was no room for quitters, no room for whiners, and especially no room disappointment. Not even through this. Even if one of them was silent and the other couldn't move, even if one was always hanging over death's door, eternally asleep, she wouldn't fail them because they were all that was standing between her and the edge of sanity.

Through humiliation, pain, and tears, Sakura was going to hold onto her team.

_(...maybe Naruto wasn't the only one losing his mind to commands...)_

Eventually, the madman behind her stopped, long after her screaming had subsided to moans and shudders. The blade finally lifted from her back, and -

"And...finishing tou...anyone...volunteer?"

Too tired to pay attention, people shuffled about her. Muffled, muffled, blurred blobs and -

A substance hit her back with no hesitation and Sakura flailed. She pulled and screamed  _(how did she have the voice to still yell?)_  and yanked and squirmed, the hands on her shoulders had gone, letting her tug in agony. Blindly, she recognized the smell and the burning sensation across her entire back. It touched every nerve and lit it on fire.

They had pissed on her back. They still were. It burned and smelled and no matter what she did to escape. It wouldn't stop.

And in the distance of her sheer agony, there was laughter. They were laughing at her. Cheering, crowing, hollering; if she wasn't in a haze of pure agony, she would have thought it some festival. A cheery, Konoha, festival.

The fire ate at her, her shoulder and everything trembling under it. It prickled and sparked and it ate away. But slowly, ever so slowly, they stopped, and her hollering along with it, leaving only gasps and agonizing sobs.

Behind her, in the haze of pain, she heard a voice whisper. "Know who owns you slave."

And the smell of the sea surrounded her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, couple of things to straighten out before i take my leave;
> 
> Right. So some people have pointed out to me that Gatou ain't got the fucking means to hold down a damn jinchuriki and to that i say: be patient. One day, padawans, you will understand.
> 
> Also, if you find [-] anywhere in the text, tell me and i'll fix it.
> 
> I got this weird thing with names, cause my family are superstitious ass's, and i don't know...names kinda hold power, is what i grew up with, and since i got mad respect for the show...i don't want to offend them by writing this fic? yeah, uh weird. I know. blame my paranoid head and stupid lore i had to grow up with. (shit like if enough people believe in something, it exists on a certain level of existence) crap pops up in the worst areas of my life i swear. like fic writing. Shit's engrained in my head so yeah, we all know how that is...Believe me when i say i find it just as annoying.
> 
> as always, i hope you enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> hoped you liked it. I know it's cliche to ask, but feedback would be nice. 1) it would feed my ego, but 2) it really would be nice to receive unbiased criticism. like, don't completely shit on it, but tell me if some parts just felt too abstract or not human enough. I dunno, just if any of the writing felt like crap. 
> 
> Or if you enjoyed it, because honestly, that's also really nice to hear.


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